


Late Nights and Brief Talks

by rempow



Series: Assortment of Avatar Tales [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Toph Beifong and Zuko are Siblings, Toph Beifong-centric, Zuko (Avatar)-centric, sad kid hours, the other kids are just mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:07:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28290636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rempow/pseuds/rempow
Summary: At the royal beach house on Ember Island, Zuko can't sleep. Surprisingly, he finds Toph in the same situation. They have a little discussion about what is keeping them up, and both find a little bit of peace.
Relationships: Toph Beifong & Zuko
Series: Assortment of Avatar Tales [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2072268
Comments: 8
Kudos: 58





	Late Nights and Brief Talks

**Author's Note:**

> Gotta admit I tried my best to proofread this but I deeply apologize for any mistakes.

Silvery moonlight cast a pale light across the floor of the small room where Zuko lay, golden eyes open. He, unsurprisingly, had been unable to sleep. It had been a little while since he found the Avatar, Aang, and his friends at the Western Air Temple. A little while since he burned Toph, almost died fighting Combustion Man, found dragons with Aang, escaped from the Boiling Rock with Sokka, and made an uneasy peace with Katara, and had finally been taken into the group. This group got stuff done. Now, they were sheltered at the royal beach house on Ember Island, of all places. He shifted on his small cot, turning on his side to see the portrait of his uncle. Guilt burned in his chest, and he pushed himself off of his bed, striding out of the room. Finding himself out on the cliffs by the beach, he decided to sit, swinging his legs over the side. His mind drifted as he looked up at the cold moon.

Zuko stood at the stern of the ship, watching the clouds glide under the moonlight. His face stung, still bandaged. Anytime he opened his mouth too wide or moved his head too fast, he felt tight skin pull and tear, and inevitably blood would seep through the white cloth. Three weeks since his banishment, since... that. His mind couldn’t bear to remember it. The steel door leading to the ship’s cabins creaked open, and heavy footsteps came to a stop next to Zuko. "You'll get cold if you stay out here any longer, Prince Zuko," rumbled Iroh, holding a cloak in his arms. Zuko ignored him, staring up at the sky. He wondered if he would be able to see fully once the bandage came off. "Prince Zuko, you should rest. Rest heals the body and the soul. We are making good time to the outpost." After no response, Iroh's brow creased as he sighed, turning to stare up at the stars along with Zuko. "You know, when I was in the Earth Kingdom, I missed home. But, when I saw the stars at night, I knew everyone back home was looking up at the same sky. Even though we were an ocean apart, we were connected."  
Zuko scoffed, turning away from the general. Who would think of him now? His mother abandoned him, father threw him away, sister took his place as first-in-line, Ty Lee would forget, she was so airheaded. Mai? No, she didn't care about him, that was just Azula poking fun at his stupid crush. "I’m not homesick. and no one back there is looking up at the stupid stars thinking about me. I'm going to bed." he snapped, striding back to the hold, slamming the door shut behind him.

A low grumble shook Zuko back to the present, and his head whipped around, sighing when he realized it was just Appa. Turning back to look below toward the beach, he absentmindedly picked up a rock and tossed it down, watching it clip the rocks at the bottom of the cliffs. "Who's there?" A voice suddenly sounded behind him. He jumped up, whirling around once again to see a small figure standing beside Appa.

"Toph, it's me, Zuko. Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," answered Zuko. His hands were raised in a fighting stance, and he shifted and forced his hands down at his sides.

"How the tables have turned. Don't worry, I won’t totally overreact and earthbend you off the cliffside," replied Toph drily, who shifted to lean back against Appa’s side. Zuko winced, cursing his stupidity last week.

"Again, I'm really sorry about that. How are your feet? They look better, I think. Is there anything I can do to help? Besides not burning you, I guess. or I can just leave you alone. Sorry if I woke you." His words tumbled out, and Toph snorted, running her hands through Appa’s fur. She didn't appear mad or even annoyed, which Zuko couldn't fathom. Even more, she had been the first to really accept him out of the whole group. How could she be so forgiving? What had he done to deserve it?

"Geez, learn to take a joke, princey. I’m fine, a little fire can't hurt me. And don't worry about waking me up, I couldn't sleep either." She motioned towards Zuko, beckoning him to come closer. Princey? "Come here, I can't feel you, and I can barely hear you. I get the feeling neither of us will be sleeping anytime soon." Reluctantly, Zuko sat down next to Toph, gingerly leaning back against Appa. "Good, now I know where you are. You know, you are almost as quiet as Twinkle Toes sometimes. Isn't Appa comfy?” She sighed, falling against the side of the beast and sinking into Appa’s fur. “Riding him is absolutely terrible, but all of this fur is really something. Even if it almost got us captured by your crazy sister.” Zuko bit his lip, remembering finding Aang and Azula in the deserted town. She lapsed into silence, face turned towards the ground. Zuko’s fingers drummed on his legs, feeling awkward sitting next to Toph. To fill the silence, he found himself speaking.

"You know, a week ago I was the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, and today I’m teaching the Avatar, the enemy of the Fire Nation, how to bend fire to take down the Firelord. I’m not even that great, I’m nowhere as good as my uncle, who stuck by my side for the last three years, and I totally threw him away. I’m a traitor to my homeland, and I pretty much tried to kill my father, the actual Firelord." Zuko paused, watching Toph's face for a reaction. She wore a faint, wry smile on her lips, but at his last statement her eyes widened and her mouth opened slightly.

"Wait, you tried to kill your dad? Awesome. I feel like that makes you a pretty good firebender, princey." Zuko’s eyebrow jumped up. Everyone on this team was certainly out of their minds.

"That's all you have to say about that?"

Toph shrugged, stifling a yawn with the back of her hand. "Look, unlike the others, I haven't really seen you doing all those evil deeds Katara has been yammering about non-stop, besides you burning me, but I’m planning my revenge, don’t you worry. No offense, but your dad sucks and I think it’s cool that you have the guts to stand up to him. You know, I tried to stand up to my parents, and it totally backfired. I had to run away from them to teach Aang. They were so selfish they couldn't see that I don't need to be locked away and that I can make my own decisions. Also, I met your uncle a few times, and he's a tough guy. He'll be fine on his own," declared Toph, turning to face Zuko. Even though she was blind, her eyes were almost locked onto his. "Princey, I get the feeling you worry about everything too much. You're obviously persistent, and you have to have some talent at firebending or you wouldn't have been given the task to find the Avatar." Zuko sucked in a breath, hand flying up to touch his scarred cheek.

"I wasn't given the mission to find the avatar because I was the best firebender," he replied quietly, and Toph paused, clearly waiting for him to go on, but Zuko couldn't dump all of his trauma on a twelve-year-old girl. Instead, he smoothly changed the subject, being highly skilled in diplomacy and such. "Uh, enough about me. So, what was, umm, keeping you up tonight?" He cringed inwardly at his stammering. Azula had always been the smooth-talker. A quiet “humph” puffed from the younger girl’s lips, and she tilted her head back against Appa.

"Like I'd tell you. Besides, we were just getting into your problems," she countered. Zuko shook his head, resolutely against getting into his issues with the little girl he had met a few days ago.

"No, I can tell something’s bugging you. I told you why I’m up, now I want to know why you are." He prepared for Toph to scoff at him, heart racing as memories raced through his mind. Feeling the searing flash of fire on his face, the cruel and mocking voice of his own father. No, he could never tell any of them. The pity would be too much. Toph interrupted his thoughts with a snort.

"Cool it, princey, I can feel your heart racing. I’ll tell if you chill out. But if you tell anyone I’ll crush you in your sleep, got it?" After a hastened "yes," Toph sighed, sinking deeper into Appa’s fur.

"I have this dream where I’m back in that stupid metal box on the way to my parents, and everything is shaking, and that bastard Xin-Fu keeps hitting the box and I can't hear anything but that stupid pounding. I can't see anything with all the shaking. Then, the box starts heating up, I hear fire crackling and it soaks into the metal, burning me, and I can't get out." Toph's hands clench in her lap, and Zuko sees, for the first time, a twelve-year-old girl sitting next to him. She was smaller than any of the other kids, but in this moment, he remembers Azula sneaking into his bed after a nightmare. She was four and he was six, before the Firelord started grooming her to be a monster.

"Nightmares suck," he begins, pausing to process her words, "Wait, were you actually in a metal box?" Toph nods almost imperceptibly, tucking her head on the tops of her knees and hugging her legs tight.

"Oh yeah, this was before you were in our little group. Well, I told you I ran away from my parents. They hired two earthbenders from my hometown to track me down, and they baited me with a fake letter from my mom, threw me in a metal box, and tried to cart me back home." Her hands tighten once more, but he sees anger harden her pale eyes. His hands clench as well. He would kill to get a letter from his mother if she were still alive like the bastard Firelord had claimed.

"Wait, so how did you escape?" Zuko didn't know what he said, but Toph's anger vanished, and she lifted her chin proudly and puffed out her chest.

"I ripped that stupid little metal box open with my bare hands and beat the snot out of two grown men. Then I ran all the way back to Ba Sing Se and broke into Dai Lee headquarters to rescue Appa and stormed the Earth King's palace." Zuko blinked. "That's right, you're looking at the world's greatest earthbender, and the first metalbender." She grinned, once again the tough earthbender Zuko was more familiar with. Zuko tried to connect the dots. He didn't see them in the underground chamber where he freed Appa, and she didn't appear in the catacombs with Aang and Katara, so he had to assume she was with Sokka up in the palace. He remembered Mai complaining about a stupid bear, bear? Not an armadillo bear?, and Azula ripping them a new one for letting the Earth King go. Actually, Ty Lee mentioned something about someone who earthbended her hands and feet on the floor. Must have been Toph.

"That's pretty cool" is all he can think of in response. Toph laughs, and he reaches back to rub the back of his neck. How else was he supposed to react? This little girl just admitted to breaking into two of the most secure parts of the Earth Kingdom, maybe in the whole world, and apparently bending metal? Her laughter dies down, and he glances at the girl's face to see her bravado was gone once more, replaced with something Zuko would call nervousness on anyone but Toph.

"Yeah, I know. But to be honest, I hated bending that metal. Earthbending always came naturally to me. For almost as long as I can remember it was just a part of me, a natural function like breathing. But metalbending was like ripping my muscles apart, I felt like I broke all my fingers pulling open those metal walls apart. But it was also so exhilarating, I felt so powerful even though it hurt so much. I just knew this new power of mine was too useful for me to throw away, but at the same time, I didn't know if I had it in me to do it again. But I sucked it up when we planned the invasion, Geez, I could barely lift my arms for a week after that." Toph blinks in surprise after she spoke, she had said a lot. Zuko digested the information, his hands falling into his lap, fingers interlacing. "This stays between us, you hear me princey? I can't look weak in front of everyone else, Aang won't respect me, Katara will mother me even more than usual, and Sokka will be all gentle to me. And I don't need anyone's help, I just needed to tell someone this." Zuko nods but isn't sure Toph can feel it, so he softly “mm-hmms” in response.

"Before I came and joined you guys, I redirected lightning for the first time. I caught it with my bare hands, and it ripped through my veins, fighting everything in my body. It was so hot, my body felt like it was burning on the inside and all my hair stood up on its end. Still, I grabbed hold of the lighting and channeled it through my hands with my own will. I felt unstoppable. I couldn've killed my dad, the lightning wanted to, but I knew it wasn't my destiny. I did give the wall a decent burn, though. Anyway, I get it, the power. But I guess in my case, I can't lightning bend on my own, and I don't want anyone else shooting lightning at me anymore," Zuko finished with a mutter, and Toph's eyebrows lifted in surprise. She seemed to put together the “almost killing the Firelord” and “redirecting lightning” pretty fast.

"You bent lightning? Epic. I did not know that was a thing. Also, I bet you scared the snot out of the Firelord when you shot it right back at him. That’s cool."

Zuko felt himself grinning and was probably more excited than he should have that a twelve-year-old girl called him “epic” and “cool.” "Yeah, he did look pretty surprised. I just wanted you to know that I kind of understand what you're going through. But in your case, you have to keep working on your metalbending, it will be very effective against the Fire Nation. As you've already figured out, it sounds like. From what I can tell about you, you will master metalbending in no time." Toph grinned the biggest all night, but her open smile quickly morphed into a yawn. Zuko yawned in response, and his eyelids started to feel heavy.

"Thanks, princey. You know, that was just what I needed to hear. I think I could just fall asleep right here." She shifted and turned on her side, curling up. Zuko quietly began to stand up, but Toph shot out a hand and grabbed his arm. "You know, maybe you're having a hard time sleeping because of that bed. Appa's fur is the second most comfiest material in the world, behind koala-sheep fur. It can't fix whatever is bothering you, but maybe you'll feel more comfortable." Her back is turned from Zuko, but he hears the sincerity in her voice, a sharp contrast to her grumpy, snarky self. Toph was smart. They both knew the bed wasn't the reason he couldn't sleep, but he was glad she respected him enough to not push him on it. Or maybe she just was too tired right now. She scooched to the right and offered Zuko more room on Appa. He murmurs his thanks as she releases his hand, and he sinks onto Appa, sliding his hands through Appa's silky fur, curling on his side. Appa lows softly, the gentle vibrations echoed in Zuko’s chest warmly. He drifted off to sleep in seconds. It felt like months since he had slept through the entire night.

In the morning, he woke before everyone, as usual, feeling Agni rising. Slipping silently off of Appa, he patted the beast appreciatively and was pleased when Toph doesn't shift at all; Appa's thick fur muffled any vibrations he made. He walked to the edge of the cliffs and felt the pull of Agni as the sun rose up slowly, and inside him, he imagined a gentle breath reigniting glowing embers, his firebending strength slowly growing. He exhaled slowly, head clear, before starting a series of firebending movements and stretches, designed to warm up a firebender after cool nights and balance their chi. Although no firebending is involved in this, as he glides through the movements, he feels the comforting warmth of fire course through his veins. As he finished greeting Agni, as his uncle called it, some of the other kids had already woken up. Katara was already done making breakfast, the juuk splitting off into streams as she deftly guided it into several small bowls. Suki emerged from the forest carrying a collection of fruits with Momo chirping on her shoulder, smiling in greeting to the waterbender. Surprisingly, Toph was already up. She rubbed a hand in her eye while she trudged to the cook fire, grabbing two bowls and heading towards Zuko, extending one of the bowls towards him. He takes it, murmuring his thanks, before finding a seat on the steps of the courtyard, where Toph follows and promptly takes a seat next to him. Katara arches a sharp eyebrow, about to comment until she is interrupted by Sokka squealing - a traditional Water Tribe war cry, Sokka later insists - and they all look to see Aang with a stick in his hand, laughing raucously over Sokka, who is scrambling out of his sleeping bag. "The prickle snake strikes again, Sokka!” Aang cheekily cries. Katara and Toph are laughing with Aang, Sokka is grumbling to Suki, who consolingly hands him a bowl of juuk with a large smirk on her face, and Zuko doesn't think that anyone sees, but a smile works its way onto his face. Sitting in the courtyard of his old beach home, among kids who were practically strangers to him, strangely, he feels as if he is among family.

**Author's Note:**

> First fic!! Let me know what you guys think about this type of stuff :)


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